Am I Warm Enough For You?
by DistractionCake
Summary: "'Did you know? ' Toni's head snaps up quickly at Cheryl's question. Cheryl repeats herself, 'Did you know? That Jason was down there the entire time? '" Summary: Before officially joining the Serpents, there are some things Cheryl needs to know.


**AN:** Hope you don't mind me too much xx

* * *

 _Well, maybe we should make it official._

The words ring in Cheryl's ears the rest of the day.

Cheryl Blossom? An official Southside Serpent? Her father is probably rolling in his grave at the thought.

Cheryl can't say the image doesn't please her. _Oh, Daddy. How the mighty have fallen._ She smirks at the thought, as she sits in the middle of her four poster canopy bed twirling a thumb drive in her hands. She briefly wonders though, as the smirk drops from her face, if he would believe her to be in free-fall too.

(She hates that a part of her still cares what her father would think.)

(She wonders if Jason would understand.)

Cheryl closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

The sound of water running and light muffled singing reaches her ears. Cheryl feels warmth spread across her chest at the sound.

This isn't something to be ashamed of.

(She knows he would.)

A soft smile tugs at her lips.

As the water shuts off, Cheryl opens her eyes and glances at the duffle bag Toni had set down by the closet upon her arrival. After their busy day at school protesting Principal Weatherbee's ridiculous memo about transferring the Southsiders – and Toni's roundabout offer of joining the Serpents – the other girl had headed for the Serpent's camp after school, a wink and a _I'll meet you at Thistlehouse_ later.

Cheryl had let her go without protest, but as the girl came in and set the mysterious bag down, Cheryl can't deny that she's curious about its contents. As the overwhelming urge to go check begins to overtake her, Cheryl squeezes her hands and the USB brings her back to herself.

If she wants Toni to share all of the pieces that make her _her_ , then Cheryl knows…she knows she must do the same.

 _Easier said than done._

(If her palms ever got sweaty due to nerves, Cheryl imagines this would be one of those occasions.)

As the door to her en-suite opens, Toni walks out wearing her version of pajamas: an oversized t-shirt and very little else. Cheryl feels her heart speed up at the sight, but reigns herself in. Tonight is about something more important.

"We, uh, doing movies tonight?" Toni asks, as she glances over to Cheryl's laptop placed strategically on her nightstand; lying in wait. The girl hops onto the bed, immediately moving to readjust their pillows.

"Not quite."

At Cheryl's quiet correction, Toni pauses and glances at her quizzically. Cheryl reaches over for her laptop and places it between them, not unlike their regular movie nights.

(Cheryl's heart hurts a bit at the fact that despite their short amount of time together, they already have their _regular_ things.)

She opens her laptop and places the flash drive in it. A video player pops up asking to be played.

Cheryl locks eyes with Toni before speaking, "I need to show you something."

Toni reaches over and takes hold of her hand. She squeezes it in comfort.

(Cheryl briefly closes her eyes as she thinks back to Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, to Clifford Blossom's Public Will Reading, to the halls and tunnels beneath the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

Every instance that Toni's hands have brought her comfort and strength.)

(She thinks of their first time – of what it might be like. She knows Toni's hands will comfort her then too.)

She opens her eyes and finds nothing but care and affection shinning in Toni's, despite their confusion.

"Okay," Toni quietly responds.

Cheryl turns to look at the computer and clicks play. As the scene begins to unfold she hears Toni take a sharp breath. She feels her tense beside her.

 _Jason.  
Mustang.  
Clifford Blossom.  
The Unthinkable. _

She glances over and sees Toni clench her jaw at the sight before her.

As the video finishes, Cheryl reaches over to close her laptop. She turns to fully look at Toni whose eyes are cast down, a million thoughts clearly running through her head.

"Did you know?"

Toni's head snaps up quickly at Cheryl's question. Cheryl repeats herself, "Did you know? That Jason was down there the entire time?"

A voice inside Cheryl's head, one that sounds suspiciously like Penelope Blossom, reminds her:

 _She's a Serpent.  
She tended bar.  
She had to have known.  
Southside Scum.  
They're all to blame._

"The basement was off-limits," Toni quietly answers.

Cheryl glances down at her computer. She's not exactly sure what kind of answer she expected. Anger? Denial? Hurt? What is the appropriate reaction to being indirectly accused of playing a part in Jason Blossom's kidnapping and murder?

"Can I ask you a question?"

Cheryl nods, still not looking over at Toni.

"Why do you have this?"

Cheryl chuckles humorlessly, "Back when F.P. was on trial, sweet Cousin Betty felt the need to inform me that she had made a copy of the video she and the Scooby Gang had discovered that implicated my father in my brother's death. She used it to force me to testify on F.P.'s behalf, asking the court for leniency."

Cheryl then looks back up and locks eyes with Toni, before continuing.

"She said she'd release it to the World Wide Web if I didn't comply."

Toni shakes her head as she mutters to herself, "Fuckin' hell."

"What would you have done?"

Toni looks at her quizzically again as Cheryl explains.

"If you had been the one in possession of this macabre video, back then. Would you have used it for blackmail purposes?"

"Cheryl…" Toni whispers, the pain in her voice clear.

(Cheryl tells herself to stay strong. That she has to do this. She _needs_ to know.)

"There's only one right answer," Cheryl comments as she tries to hold back tears.

"Yes." A beat passes. " _Yes_ , I would have used it to blackmail you….If I'm honest? I probably would have then released it anyway," Toni shrugs, letting out a scoff seemingly at herself. "Let the Northside cannibalize itself as it faced the reality that one of their own was the kind of monster they always accused us Southsiders to be."

(Cheryl thinks of histories and legacies. Of genocides masked in holidays. Of the chasm between two halves of the same town – of train tracks cutting them straight down the middle.)

A beat passes.

"I'm not proud of that answer."

Cheryl closes her eyes, tears streaming down her face, "I am," Cheryl says swallowing back even more tears. "It's the right one."

Cheryl feels Toni's soft hands reach over to cup her face. Her thumbs brushing away her tears.

"How can it be?" Toni asks, her voice breaking.

"Because it's the truth."

(Because Cheryl _knows_. Knows that back then Toni would have done anything for the Serpents, for her family, for their King. For F.P. And pretending otherwise isn't fair to either of them and that's – that's what Cheryl needs. The honest to goddamn truth.)

(And if she's to continue with this honesty? Cheryl knows that if the roles had been reversed, if Cheryl had been in Toni's place in this hypothetical scenario, well… She and Toni are not all that dissimilar.)

Cheryl opens her eyes and sees tears streaming down Toni's face. She moves to rest her forehead against Toni's, their noses softly touching.

"And now?" Cheryl asks. She feels Toni softly shaking her head.

"I'd kill them. Anyone who would ever try to do that to you agai-"

Cheryl cuts her off with a forceful kiss. It goes on for a few beats, before turning soft and loving. They pull back, resting their foreheads against each other again.

Before Cheryl can speak, Toni cuts in, "I protect my people. And now? _You're mine_."

Cheryl shivers at the roughness of Toni's voice.

(Cheryl thinks of what it means to belong to something greater than herself. A family. One not bound by something as fickle as blood, but by choice. She thinks of what it means to sacrifice, to die for someone, to kill for someone. She thinks of ice cold rivers and burning mansions. Of rebirth.)

(She thinks of what it means to belong to Toni.)

"Ask me."

Toni pulls back and gives her a confused look before it clicks.

"Do you want to join the Southside Serpents?"

"Yes."

The two embrace then as Toni pulls her backwards with her, so that they are laying across the bed.

"Thank you for sharing that with me. For trusting me."

"Thank you for being honest."

Toni quietly chuckles at her, "You'll be the death of me, Cheryl Blossom."

"I know."

The sweet hereafter.

(The duffel bag stays untouched the entire night. A cherry red Serpent jacket, lying in wait.)


End file.
